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Browsing News Entries

Browsing News Entries

Pope Leo Centralizes Oversight of St. Peter’s and St. Mary Major Basilicas

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Official prayer of 2027 World Youth Day released (Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life)

The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has released the official prayer of the 2027 World Youth Day, which will be held in Seoul, South Korea.

The prayer includes a petition to “kindle the flame of the Korean martyrs’ faith in our hearts, making us into disciples who live out the gospel of peace, love, and truth.”

Fraternity, service, and Marian spirituality: Leo XIV's recommendations to Servites (Dicastery for Communication)

Pope Leo XIV received participants in the 215th general chapter of the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites), founded in 1233, and encouraged them to return to the Gospel, to the order’s Rule and Constitutions, and “to listening to the cry of the poor.”

“In order for you to live this threefold return in the best way, not only in these days but always, I would like to recommend three means, typical of your tradition: fraternity, service and Marian spirituality,” Pope Leo said.

“Dear friends, may Mary, present at the Cross, strong, faithful, show you how to stand beside the countless crosses where Christ still suffers in his brethren, to bring them comfort, communion, help and the valuable bread of affection,” the Pope added.

Conductor Riccardo Muti to receive Ratzinger Prize (Fondazione Vaticana Joseph Ratzinge)

The Joseph Ratzinger—Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation has announced that conductor Riccardo Muti will receive the 2025 Ratzinger Prize. The prize, according to the Foundation, is awarded to “eminent personalities in the field of culture and Christian-inspired art.”

“The very high value of Maestro Muti’s art is universally recognized, and Benedict XVI also considered himself a sincere admirer of it,” the Foundation stated. “For his part, the Maestro reciprocated this esteem with repeated personal manifestations of attention and affection, even when Pope Benedict, after his resignation, was in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.”

“I have always followed and deeply admired Pope Benedict XVI, whose thoughts, reflections and meditations have been and will be a nourishment for men and women of good will,” said Muti. “The last private meeting with Benedict will remain for me and my wife a memory full of faith and hope.”

Vatican publishes new regulations for the Roman Curia (Vatican News)

The Vatican has published two new documents on the Roman Curia. The documents, signed by Pope Leo and currently available only in Italian, are entitled “General Regulations of the Roman Curia” and “Regulations for the Staff of the Roman Curia.”

The new regulations:

  • Downgrade the use of Latin as the language of the Curia. The former regulations stated that curial acts should be drafted “as a rule in Latin”; the new regulations state that “Curial Institutions shall draft their acts as a rule in Latin or in another language.”
  • Require offices of the Roman Curia to “examine and, if necessary, adjudicate on matters that the faithful, exercising their right, directly refer to the Holy See”—ensuring that the laity receive responses to pleas.
  • Mandate a six-day work week, with regular hours, and puts tighter controls on absences due to illness.
  • Stipulate that religious superiors and diocesan bishops must be consulted on matters involving their communities.

The Italian blog Silere Non Possum has published an English-language summary of the new regulations, which replace those issued by St. John Paul II in 1999.

Spanish bishop under Vatican investigation retires (Vatican Press Office)

Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of Cádiz y Ceuta, Spain.

The 76-year-old prelate, accused of abusing a seminarian over a period of several years in the 1990s, is under Vatican investigation. Bishop Zornoza denies the allegation.

Pope Leo: Christian identity is at the heart of Catholic education (Dicastery for Communication (Spanish))

In a video message to participants in a conference at an Augustinian school in Madrid, Pope Leo XIV said that Christian identity is at the heart of Catholic education.

“As happens to sailors, if you lose sight of the North Star, it is not uncommon for the ship to drift,” Pope Leo said. “For Christian education, the compass is Christ. Without its light, the educational mission itself is emptied of meaning.”

Christian identity “is the foundation that articulates the educational mission, defines its horizon of meaning and guides its daily practices,” the Pope continued. “When identity does not inform pedagogical decisions, it runs the risk of becoming a superficial ornament that fails to sustain educational work in the face of the many cultural, ethical and social tensions that characterize our times of polarization and violence.”

Papal spiritual advice to American youth (Pillar)

In a digital meeting with participants in the National Catholic Youth Conference (video), Pope Leo advised young people to build a “real relationship” with Jesus.

“That is why daily moments of silence are so important, whether through adoration, reading Scripture, talking to him, looking for those little spaces of time where we can be with him little by little, we learn to hear his voice, to feel his presence, both within and through the people that he sends to us,” the Pope said.

The Pope also said that technology, while helpful, should not take the place of human relationships, and that “the Church doesn’t belong to any political party. Rather, she helps form your conscience.”

Pope, at jubilee audience, pays tribute to Dorothy Day (CWN)

In the ninth special jubilee audience of 2025, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to the Servant of God Dorothy Day (1897-1980).